The last summer vacation of my high school days was just around the corner.
And if I put it differently, it means the Star’s Flow Festival is getting closer.
A mix of tension and excitement.
Various emotions swirl around, making my heart pound faster.
What kind of landscape will I see that day?
What will I see and feel?
Of course, it might just be an ordinary group live performance, but I couldn’t help but feel excited regardless.
The Star’s Flow Festival.
To think that I’m participating as a member in a festival named after the company itself!
It would be strange to say not to expect it.
…But before that, there was one problem to solve.
The Star Festival has all the members of Star’s Flow participating.
Starting from Natsune Nanase, a member of the first generation. Kurokami, Senior Namikawa, Senior Amatsuka, Senior Yuzuki, and Senior Minazuki from the first generation.
The second generation includes me, Suzuha Koga, Yukari Akabane, Aki, and Ayaka Utsumi.
From the third generation, we have Kaguya Aoba, Tsurusaki, Sakuya Suzumichi, Mizuki, and Hatakawa.
That’s a total of 16 people participating in this group event.
In short, it means all the members of Star’s Flow will gather in one place that day….
The other members are fine.
I’ve met them once or twice in real life and collaborated with them several times.
But just one person.
I’ve never met Hatakawa, a third-generation member who’s the guide RP of Atlas.
No. It would be fortunate if I just simply hadn’t met her.
It’s not at all strange to only meet face-to-face for the first time at an offline event after maintaining a relation solely through collaborations.
But I’ve never even had a simple collaboration with Hatakawa.
There has been no connection at all, even in group collaborations.
I haven’t even talked with her separately.
In fact, it’s not like I had no chance at all.
However, for some reason, whenever I tried to seize that opportunity, the other third-generation members…
Especially Tsurusaki vehemently opposed it each time.
Could it be that they don’t get along?
I thought about that, but seeing them play together on Twitter and often collaborating, it didn’t seem like that at all.
Watching Hatakawa’s broadcast, she had a vibe similar to Aki, so it didn’t seem too uncomfortable to collaborate with her….
‘Well, it should be fine, right? We’re going to meet at the Star Fest anyway, so it doesn’t matter.’ That thought is not entirely absent.
Yeah. Still, I’m a respectable senior that the juniors respect, you know?
But the other juniors have talked and even done offline collaborations, yet I’m the only one left out.
I feel a sense of guilt in my heart.
Alright. I’ve decided.
I shouldn’t just wait for a chance to come.
I know well that chances must be created by oneself!
[Kaino Izumi: Hatakawa, I want to schedule a collaboration with you….]
So, I sent a DM to Hatakawa to propose a collaboration.
[Hatakawa Kaede: Sure! I’m OK anytime, senior.]
Fortunately, Hatakawa gladly accepted the offer.
★
Shiinamomi Momiji (椎姓 椛).
Her stage name as a VTuber is Hatakawa Kaede. RP is the guide of Atlas.
Right now… for some reason, she was forcibly summoned to the group Miscode room of the third generation.
[Why didn’t you just refuse, Kaede? You should have rejected it right away!]
[I’ll tell her now. Suddenly, I have a problem and it seems like I can’t do it.]
Listening to the continuous voices, Kaede thought, ‘It’s noisy as always…’ as she casually sipped on the cola she brought earlier.
The atmosphere in Atlas’s group Miscode was always like this.
You could say it’s carefree in a good way, or lack of unity in a bad way.
Of course, Kaede usually just listens quietly in this Miscode room, but that doesn’t mean she dislikes the atmosphere.
After all, they often gather and have fun together, so the relationship was pretty good.
“…So? What is it about?”
Setting her drink down, Kaede asked.
What on earth happened while she was out for dinner that her precious juniors were acting like this?
If they were going to just refuse outright without any explanation, it was something she couldn’t comprehend.
[…I watched Izumi-senpai’s Naita!]
Kaede roughly responded to Aoba’s words and accessed Izumi’s Naita.
[Kaino Izumi☆Star’s Flow @KainoIzumi · 1 hour ago]
I will collaborate with Hatakawa this Saturday!
The waiting is over here! >> https://ontu.be/XXXXXXX
#Star’sFlow #KainoIzumi #HatakawaKaede
“…What’s the problem here?”
Kaede asked her juniors in a serious tone.
‘Yesterday, Senpai proposed the collaboration, and I accepted it, so we just needed to set the date before I left… why is everyone angry?’
Kaede couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“I just accepted a collaboration with Senpai…”
[Whatever the others say, you can’t do it! Izumi-senpai will definitely be gobbled up!]
[Yeah, I’m completely against it too.]
[That’s right! Quickly tell Izumi that it seems like it won’t work out this time!]
“I’m not some monster…”
Kaede felt wronged but managed to rein in her emotions.
“So Aoba, Shoko, and Tsukasa are saying to cancel this collaboration right now…?”
The three nodded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
If they were face-to-face, they would’ve been nodding their heads vigorously.
“Since we’re going to meet at the Star Fest anyway, wouldn’t it be better to know each other’s personalities in advance than to be awkward on the day? It feels strange that only we haven’t had any collaborative experience…”
Kaede repeated what she half-heard from Izumi, but none agreed with her statement.
[Then during the event, other people including me will protect you, so it won’t be a problem at all.]
[You and Izumi are better off just being forever awkward.]
[Yeah, I completely agree.]
“No…”
What did I do wrong to deserve this treatment?
Kaede was feeling exasperated, but none of them were understanding her feelings.
“Sakuya… what did I do wrong…?”
So, Kaede turned to Sakuya, the most sensible one in Atlas, for help.
She believed Sakuya would definitely calm down the three who were currently in a frenzy.
[Uh, well. I also think it’s not good for Kaede to meet Izumi-senpai…]
But that trust was shattered immediately.
With an awkward chuckle, Sakuya said that she agreed with the other three, and Kaede sincerely despaired before her.
“…So, the bond of the third generation has disappeared, huh?”
Izumi once said Atlas was a group of strange people.
And Kaede genuinely agreed with that statement.
Including herself… apart from Sakuya, there were no normal people.
Kaede thought that way too.
But despite all this, Kaede liked Atlas.
Because there were no normal people, she thought she could belong, and she loved her juniors genuinely.
But to think that she was the only one who felt that way.
“I want to cry…”
[We’re the ones who want to cry! Think about our feelings after seeing Naita that you suddenly collaborated with Izumi-senpai!]
“What’s the problem!”
As Kaede cried out in frustration, Shoko raised her voice back.
[Well, that’s because you’re a lolicon!!!]
[That’s right! You extreme lolicon! You absolutely cannot meet Izumi-senpai, the criminal!]
“I’m not a criminal! No, wait! What does me being a lolicon have to do with collaborating?!”
[…Wait a second.]
Looking at Kaede, who replied like that, the other four from Atlas were genuinely taken aback.
They thought that Kaede would surely understand why they were saying this.
[Kaede…. you’ve never seen ‘the inside person’ of Izumi-senpai, right?]
“I’ve never seen it! Why would I mix with someone whose role doesn’t even overlap, and we haven’t even had an offline collaboration…?”
That’s right. The four of Atlas had misunderstood.
They thought Kaede had seen the picture of Izumi that spread due to this incident.
Of course, Kaede knew that such an incident existed.
However, she thought they would eventually meet, so there was no need to go through such a bother beforehand.
[I thought you accepted the collaboration after seeing Izumi-senpai’s picture.]
[I did too…]
After a long debate, the misunderstanding was cleared up.
“Hah. So, we can… collaborate?”
Kaede sighed and returned to the original topic, believing that with the misunderstanding resolved, her precious juniors would now have nothing more to say.
[There’s no way that’s happening!!! Listen to me, the leader! You as a guide!]
[That’s a different matter.]
[Kaede, the fact that you’re a genuine lolicon hasn’t changed in the least!]
Of course, that couldn’t be!
“Don’t throw around your title as the leader here! It’s true that I like small and cute girls, but that’s only in the world of 2D! There’s no way that could be the case in reality!”
[No…. you’re dangerous. If it’s Izumi-senpai, she’ll be gobbled up…]
[Yeah. I think it’s 100 percent likely.]
[No matter how much you deny it, if it’s Izumi-chan… in no way…]
[It’s not for no reason that she went to court…]
What kind of person is Izumi-senpai, anyway?
Kaede’s questions piled up as she looked at her juniors.
“Well, we can’t just forcefully tell someone to cancel the collaboration and expect them to do it…”
After a long conversation, Kaede returned to her usual mood and declared.
[It’s hopeless….]
[Sorry, Izumi-chan…]
[Aaahhhhhh…]
[Hahaha….]
The other three third-generation members, except Sakuya, genuinely cried out in despair.
★
Time passed, and it was the day of the collaboration between Izumi and Kaede.
Their collaboration was originally planned to proceed normally through a Miscode phone call.
But with the pressure from her juniors, Kaede proposed, “We should do an offline collaboration with the goal of getting closer,” and Izumi accepted that suggestion without a second thought.
Kaede’s suggestion carried several meanings.
The first was curiosity about why her juniors were making such a fuss.
The second was the confidence that she would never do anything strange.
Because Kaede firmly believed that she was a proud resident of the 2D world.
When Kaede met Izumi, she said,
“Ah, hello! Hehe…”
“…Wanna be secret friends with big sis?”
She was defeated in just one second.
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